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Can The Underdog Seahawks Turn Their Season Around?

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There’s kind of a lot on the line this week. I’m the last person who LIKES being an alarmist; it’s just so fucking predictable and cliche for the hardcore football fan to be like, “WEEK 2 IS A MUST WIN GAME FOR THE SEAHAWKS OTHERWISE THE SEASON IS OVER AND WE MIGHT AS WELL ALL KILL OURSELVES!!!1”.

For the record: do NOT kill yourself if the Seahawks lose this week.

There’s a number of ways to look at this, though. Every time week 2 of the NFL season comes and goes, you get the requisite: such and such percent of teams who start 0-2 make the playoffs; that percentage falls to such and such if they start 0-3. I really only have articles from last year, but since 1970, only 9.5% of teams that started 0-2 made the playoffs. Since 1990, only 14.8% of 0-2 teams made it. Last year, Cincinnati started 0-2 and finished with a 12-4 record (the unfinished Buffalo game notwithstanding) to win their division. That’s a pretty remarkable turnaround; definitely not the norm.

There’s been 6 teams total since 1979 that have made the playoffs after an 0-3 start, for what it’s worth. So, not great.

Last year, the Seahawks started 1-2 before turning things around – oddly enough, with a 48-45 victory over the Lions in Detroit kicking things off – but I guess I’m less concerned about just making the playoffs. There’s always a 9- or 10-win team squeaking into a wild card spot. It’s very possible to start 0-2 and get there; tack on a win at home next week against Carolina and we’re in the same spot we were a year ago. But, I guess I just had higher hopes for this team. Or, you know, just fool me a bit! Make me believe the Seahawks have what it takes to contend with the 49ers! Don’t rip off the band aid in the first two weeks with an 0-2 start.

Sports seasons are most fun when you know you’re elite. 49ers fans must be thrilled right now. Eagles and Cowboys fans are feeling great. The next level of entertainment is when you THINK you’re great. Dolphins fans, Lions fans, Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Jaguars, and even lower rung teams like Packers, Browns, Ravens, Patriots, Vikings, and Giants fans can delude themselves into having high hopes. No hope for Jets fans though. Never Jets fans. And the Giants fans are only there because they’re galoots who don’t know any better.

But, we Seahawks fans don’t get to live in that fantasy. Not after last week. The best we can hope for is that the Rams are better than anyone expected, and might be a dark horse for a playoff spot. I don’t believe that’s the case. I think the Rams ARE who we thought they were, and they’re going to finish among the bottom teams in football. Which makes our 17-point loss at home all the more demoralizing.

So, that’s a lot to overcome in one week. The Seahawks are fighting for their own fans to have some semblance of confidence in this team, this season. Even if we were always meant to be in a stepping stone year in 2023, it has to actually be a step UP. It can’t look like every other year since 2015.

What does that look like? Well, the team as a whole gets off to a slow start. Not an alarmingly slow start, but an annoyingly slow start. The defense is utter shit, but the offense is just good enough (sometimes) to float around .500 for a while. Then, we go on a little mid-season run to get everyone flying high, before the offense collapses into itself and the we’re stumbling our way into the playoffs. We settle for yet another wild card spot, and we lose in the wild card round. While I’m exaggerating about the 2015 thing, it’s been a virtual reality since 2018 (there was a surprise division championship in 2020, only for us to lose to the Rams in the first round at home).

I can’t go through it again. I REALLY can’t go through it again when I know exactly what’s going to happen.

Winning in Detroit this week would go a long way in changing that perception.

For the record, I’m not even REMOTELY interested in any moral victories this week. We all know the storyline: the Seahawks are as low as a team can be. The Lions, meanwhile, finished 9-8 last year, knocking hated rivals Green Bay out of the playoffs in Week 18, and followed that up with a thrilling victory in Kansas City over the Super Bowl champs last Thursday to kick off the NFL season. They had a potentially-underrated off-season and draft, there’s both a lot of hype and anti-hype surrounding the Lions (many predicting them to win the NFC North; many also predicting them to be the team that most disappoints expectations), but one thing most people agree upon: they’re going to be fun and they’re going to score a lot of points this year. Now, with their 1-0 start, they play at home in front of a sellout crowd that’s going to be louder and more raucous than they’ve been since Barry Sanders’ heyday.

It’s a lot for the Seahawks to walk into.

The Lions are favored by 4.5 points. That line hasn’t really changed since the week began; we’ll see what happens as Sunday approaches. No one REALLY thinks the Seahawks are going to win. Odds say the Lions have a 2/3 chance of winning, which honestly feels low. The Seahawks are likely to be missing both offensive tackles. Devon Witherspoon is probably another week away from entering the starting lineup (who knows if he’ll even play at all this Sunday); Jamal Adams is probably a month away from returning to limited game action. JSN sure as shit didn’t look 100% last week, and I have no idea what’s going on with Lockett. The Seahawks just signed 41 year old Jason Peters off the scrap heap, who might HAVE to start this week, because Stone Forsythe is a joke. Meanwhile, Abe Lucas just hit the IR and we’ll see if he’s able to return this year and actually make a positive impact.

It’s a nightmare. I’m flashing on the Seahawks getting saddled with having the ball first, going 3 & Out, and the roof literally exploding off of that dome. It makes me physically ill.

I’m also flashing on Jared Goff carving up our defense with precision passes, and their running backs double-teaming us right in the pooper at a 5-yards-per-carry clip.

Maybe that all comes to fruition. Maybe these Seahawks are significantly worse than we thought. Maybe we just caught two teams at the wrong time of year, when they’re playing their absolute best. I’m not willing to completely throw out of bed the possibility that we lose by double digits once again.

But, it’s not like we haven’t been here before. There’s something fishy about a line like 4.5, after the Seahawks looked the way they looked last week, and the Lions looked the way they looked last week. Why isn’t it 6 or 7? If I was a dispassionate sports bettor, I’d be looking at the Lions like the lock of the week. I’m assuming the betting public will be on the Lions hot and heavy, if they aren’t already. What are the sharps doing, though? Where are they going to lean?

The Seahawks thrive in chaos. The Seahawks love being the underdogs. The Seahawks constantly defy expectations when you least expect it. There’s no real rational reason to pick the Seahawks to win this game. But, winning this game – dirty and ugly – is the most Seahawky thing I can think of. Especially if they go down 7-0 early in the first quarter.

There’s been nothing but bad vibes permeating throughout Seahawksland this week. Everything that could go wrong DID go wrong last week. We’re all just bracing for the 0-2 start, and the obituaries that will surely follow.

But, isn’t that what Week 2 is all about? Trying to figure out what’s real, and what’s an overreaction?

Look at fantasy. Think about all the players who stunk up the joint last week. Hell, I had a number of them on my teams! Tee “Zero Catches” Higgins, Joe Burrow, Christian Kirk, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Elijah Mitchell, the Steelers’ defense; they all did nothing or next-to-nothing last week. Meanwhile, Jordan Love, Zay Flowers, Brandon Aiyuk, Tyler Allgeier, Puka Nacua, Matthew Stafford, Jordan Addison, the Jets’ defense; they all killed it in week 1 (many of them for my bench, or on the waiver pile). Are all of those guys who stunk going to continue to suck? Of course not; I would bet on most of them turning it around this very week. Similarly, will Jordan Love play at an MVP clip, and will Flowers, Nacua, and Addison never have ANY rookie pitfalls? Of course not.

Guys have bad games. The good ones tend to bounce back the very next week. I still believe the Seahawks have a number of good guys on their team.

The question will be: is this a fundamental, deeply-rooted problem that goes beyond the individual talent level of guys like Dre’Mont Jones, D.K. Metcalf, Bobby Wagner, and Geno Smith? Is it the scheme? The coaching staff? The head coach? The general manager?

We’ll find out. For what it’s worth, I like the Seahawks to cover +4.5. I also don’t hate the notion of the Seahawks winning outright, but a 30-something percent chance – as I mentioned before – feels a little high. My fear is that the Seahawks look 1,000% better than they did last week, but they still fall short at the end. Either the Lions score late to win it, or we have the ball with two minutes to go and Geno is running for his life and getting sacked for his trouble.

0-2, here we come.

And The Seahawks Looked Like Dogshit Against The Rams

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The Seahawks aren’t the only team to lose an embarrassing game in Week 1. Dare I forget the Bengals losing 24-3 to the Browns? The Steelers losing 30-7 to the 49ers? And look no further than Sunday Night Football, where the Giants got demolished 40-0 by the Cowboys.

Here’s where we put into context the 30-13 loss to the Rams: all of those other losers I just listed were defeated by teams that actually project to be pretty good! The Browns have a lot of talent on defense, and a great running game, and they played that to perfection on Sunday. The 49ers are the 49ers: one of the most talented top-to-bottom rosters in the NFL. The Cowboys are absolutely riddled with superstars on both sides of the ball, and have filled in around them marvelously.

The Rams are a fucking joke, period. The Rams are going to lose double-digit games and oftentimes look bad doing it. They have no good receivers. Their running game is subpar. They have exactly one guy on defense, and smart, competent teams are going to know how to neutralize him.

And the Seahawks Got. They. Ass. Whooped by this terrible fucking Rams team, so what does that say about us?

Well, for starters, you can forget all that shit about winning the division, or 11-12 games for that matter. And don’t even think about this team winning in the playoffs! Because THAT shit ain’t happening! I must’ve been drunk when I wrote that. Blackout drunk. Overcome with dementia; a raving fucking lunatic.

I don’t know how we keep falling for this defense like the same fucking broken record, skipping over and over and over and over and over and over again. Clint Hurtt doesn’t know how to run a defense. Or, at least, he doesn’t know how to run THIS defense. Meanwhile, Sean Desai is over in Philly running something exceedingly dynamic. But, this is REALLY on Pete Carroll, and John Schneider. We’ve seen now – since Dan Quinn left – that NO ONE has been able to run this defense. So, it’s some combination of players and scheme, and that’s on the two men at the top.

The defense steps out onto that field for the first time in the season, and it gives up a methodical 16-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that takes up most of the first quarter. Every fucking year. Which is only a microcosm of the season, because the defense might settle down for a quarter or two, but then it falls apart at the end. We’ll see this shitty fucking defense play out over the next month or two, and fans will be calling for the chopped-off heads of everyone involved with this team. Then, they’ll play some lousy offense, and for some reason get credit for the turnaround. The soft spot of the schedule will make it look like the Seahawks know what the FUCK they’re doing, until they have to play the 49ers or Eagles or whatever, and then it’s back to major fucking blowouts.

I guess credit is due for improved run defense? 2.3 yards per carry IS an improvement. Except, they had no trouble ramming it into our asshole when they got down around the goalline; the two backs combined for 3 very easy touchdowns. Goalline defense doesn’t figure to be our specialty.

But, 2.3 yards per carry is of cold comfort when you compare it to the passing game. Matthew Stafford had all day to throw. Not that he ever needed all day, because his guys were wide fucking open all game long. Not even a whiff of press coverage. No knocking guys off of their route. Just running and chasing, and giving up both easy passes in gaping zones, or tough passes in one-on-one situations. Regardless, this game was EASY for Matthew Stafford. It also would’ve been EASY for Desmond Ridder or Baker Mayfield or even Justin Fields.

Hey, where the hell was Dre’Mont Jones? Even if I knew what stupid fucking number he chose to wear, I couldn’t fucking tell you where he was in this one, because he was a GHOST! A $17 million per year fucking ghost.

Hey, where the hell was this awesome secondary we’ve heard so much about? Because, spoiler alert, Tutu Fucking Atwell and Puka Fucking Nacua torched us all damn day, and it would’ve been worse if not for some drops early on. Each had 119 yards receiving, on 6 catches for Atwell and 10 for Nacua. Umm, those guys are trash. And they dominated. Let’s revisit in 6 weeks and see where they are.

Hey, where the hell was the pass rush? Or, as Cris Collinsworth says, “Pash Rsh”. Not even CLOSE to a sack. A whopping 2 QB hits. I’m tired of the fucking excuse that the quarterback affects that stat by getting rid of the ball quickly. You know what you can do? You can blitz, like ever. Or, you can press the fucking line of scrimmage and force him to think for more than a fucking micro-second! What did the Seahawks do? The same thing, all fucking game. React, instead of dictate. This fucking namby-pamby way of playing defense that they’ve played since Dan Quinn left.

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the offense. Geno Smith sure was a mess out there! 16/26 for 112 yards and a TD isn’t going to earn him that raise next year! I thought Kenneth Walker looked like he picked up right where he left off last season, except you can’t really take advantage of his 5.3 yards per carry when you can’t ever convert a fucking third down (2 for 9 on the day, including 0 for their last 7). There were some drops, there were some poorly-thrown balls, and Geno flat-out missed a wide open Jake Bobo running down the seam on the trick play they called (Bobo would’ve been the primary receiver on that play, so how you miss him is FUCKING baffling to me).

This team scored 13 points on their first three drives. Then, they missed an easy field goal before halftime, then that was it. Nothing but punts in the second half. Punts and Rams points.

I thought Charbonnet looked ineffectual in his 3 carries; I guess that’s good news for people who have Walker in Fantasy. I thought JSN looked tentative and VERY coverable (maybe a byproduct of his hand/wrist injury). It’s funny how the Rams don’t have NEARLY as talented of a defense, and yet they managed to cover us tight near the line of scrimmage.

Bobby Wagner had 19 tackles, but what impact did he have? I saw Matthew Stafford juke right around him on a scramble; how does THAT happen?! Jordyn Brooks had 12 tackles, so that’s neat. They looked exactly like they did 2 years ago when they were teammates: zero big plays whatsoever.

Everyone but the punter stunk up the joint. Even on Special Teams, we let two balls squib into the endzone, and Myers missed a very easy field goal.

And if you were worried about injuries, this was the game for you, because we had them in spades! Both offensive tackles left the game, not to return. Their replacements – as we’ve seen before – were God awful. This team won’t win a game if it has Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan starting. That’s just it. Put us down for 0-17 if that’s the case, because those useless fucking turds couldn’t block a cold.

Let’s see, Tyler Lockett had a head injury, and was sucking on oxygen all game. Cardio not up to snuff? What’s going on? And, of course, we didn’t even get to see our #5 overall pick, Devon Witherspoon, or Jamal Adams – two of our most dynamic defensive playmakers – because they weren’t even healthy enough to suit up. Not that it would’ve mattered tremendously, since they’re sure to flounder in this scheme that does nothing to showcase actual talent, or put players in a position to succeed.

Every year, we start slow. Every year, we lose games early that we shouldn’t lose. Every year, it looks like this is the worst fucking team we’ve ever seen. And then every year they get incrementally better. They string together wins against bad teams, and an occasional okay team. They sneak into the playoffs as a wild card team, only to lose in the first round. How is it we’re being sucked into the same fucking script year after year?

I’m fucking BORED of this Seahawks team! It’s the same one we’ve watched since 2016! Just fast-forward to fucking January already and get it over with!

The Huskies Shit The Bed, But Still Have A Chance To Win The Conference

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This was almost a carbon copy of the Utah game, which is very distressing. The offense just couldn’t get anything going in the first half yet again! Even worse, the running game averaged a paltry 3.4 yards per carry over 34 attempts (when Stanford, coming in, was giving up 200+ yards per game).

But, most alarming was the Husky defense, who generated ZERO stops in the first half, en route to giving up a 24-3 halftime lead. Down 21 points at half for the second week in a row, it was a valiant effort to make another heroic comeback, but unfortunately the defense just didn’t have it. We gave up one second-half TD drive early, then let Stanford run out the final 8 minutes of the football game because we were totally unable to get off the field on third down. Bingo, bango, bongo, that’s how you fuck up what should have been a sure thing.

Stanford had 191 rushing yards and a 4.8 yards-per-carry average, along with three rushing touchdowns. We should have expected this would be their strategy and it sucks that they were so successful (especially with Oregon on deck, who has been an elite rushing team year-in and year-out). But, what was worse was the fact that their quarterback had such great success against our secondary. 252 yards on 20/30 passing, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt! He was fitting balls into the slightest of windows, both in short yardage situations and deep downfield! We were somehow just a half-second late on making plays on these balls, and it was SUPER frustrating!

Dylan Morris was once again unflappable in the face of long odds. His day was made that much more difficult by a number of his top targets being out for this one, including Puka Nacua and Terrell Bynum. There weren’t any TD passes in this one, but no INTs either. Morris threw for 254 yards (11 yards per attempt) and led the Huskies on scoring drives every time we held the ball in the first half. If it weren’t for a tough holding penalty late, we would’ve gone 4/4 on touchdown drives in the second half. And MAYBE – if we’d nailed the 2-point conversion on that hypothetical fourth TD – we would’ve tied the game and forced Stanford into some different play-calling on their eventual clock-killing monster of a final drive. Tough to say. I wish I lived in that alternate universe to see how THAT game would’ve turned out.

Anyway, it’s reasonable to say the Huskies aren’t quite as dominant as I thought. One performance like that against the Utes is something you can wave off because we won. But, two games in a row? That’s cause for real concern. If we play like that against the Ducks, not only will we lose, but we might lose BIG!

I still believe the Huskies are good enough to beat the Ducks, but it’s going to take a full four-quarter effort to get the job done. That means we need the offense to get off to a better start, we need the defense to plug up the running game, and we need to harass the quarterback on third downs so they’re not fucking 10 for 13 on conversions like Stanford was (not to mention 2 for 2 on fourth down)!

The good news is: the Ducks aren’t nearly as good as we thought they’d be heading into the season. They lost for the second week in a row – this time at Cal, after losing at Oregon State previously – and were held to just 17 points. That, of course, makes our loss to Stanford all the more frustrating, because had we won, we would’ve guaranteed a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game (rendering this upcoming game meaningless).

Ultimately, it’s probably better this way. As a Husky, we don’t need ANY reason to get up for a game against the loathsome Ducks. But, with something truly important on the line, it would make a victory all the sweeter (of course, it would make a defeat all the more depressing, but that’s neither here nor there).

I don’t have a great feel for how this game is going to go. Gun to my head, I see us struggling to contain their run game. I see them in a lot of 2nd & Short and 3rd & Short situations; frankly, I see them popping for some big plays as well. With how bad our front seven has been at filling gaps and generating losses on running plays, I don’t know if we’re going to force Oregon to punt all that often. That means we need to generate turnovers, and it means we need to keep pace on offense as well. I don’t doubt we can get an interception or a fumble here and there, but in the end I don’t think it will be enough. I think we’re going to struggle on offense – with maybe some garbage time yards/points late. But, I’m seeing something in the realm of 33 to 24, Oregon over Washington.

I hope I’m wrong! I hope we’ve been able to tweak some things on defense to fix what’s been ailing us pretty much all season. I hope Oregon continues to scuffle on both sides of the ball and we go in there and roll all over them! I hope we head into the Pac-12 Championship Game with just the one loss and prove all the doubters wrong by killing whoever makes it out of the Pac-12 South. I’ll tell you this much: the winner of Washington at Oregon WILL be the Pac-12 Champion when the season ends, because these ARE the two best teams in the entire conference. Colorado and USC can go suck an egg!

The Huskies Giveth & The Huskies Taketh Away

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You don’t get to see games like the one against the Utes last Saturday very often. It takes a special confluence of circumstances that necessitates having an elite defense … that just so happens to shit the bed for an entire half of football. Now, just saying that – without knowing any of the details of the game – you might think the Huskies got off to a great start, and then blew it. But, that’s what makes this such a rare occurrence! This was the exact opposite!

Defenses don’t normally get stronger as the game goes along. Having to react to the play-calling and tempo of an offense alone is exhausting, let alone all of the actual effort it takes to try to prevent them from scoring (when, not for nothing, almost all the rules are tilted in the offense’s favor). That’s why you often see teams scoring at a higher rate in the final two minutes of a close game; that’s when defenses are most gassed.

It takes a special sort of fortitude to bow up like that after looking so bad for an entire half of football. Utah took a 21-0 lead at the break, and they REALLY dictated everything to the Huskies. I thought the most uncharacteristic thing about this game was how many tackles the Dawgs missed in the first half.

The Utah running game was especially stout, finishing the day with 215 yards on 41 carries and 2 touchdowns. The Huskies didn’t have an answer for it in the first half, forcing a fumble (off a sack) on the very first drive of the game and a punt early in the second quarter. But, otherwise, the Utes marched at will, and it was a little embarrassing!

On top of which, the Husky offense seemed to sleepwalk throughout. Dylan Morris was far from great in this one, throwing 3 picks (albeit, one of them was a hail mary at the end of the first half). The first one was particularly Carson Wentz-esque! Just RIGHT to the defender, like he was the one running the route. And, to make matters worse, the running game never got going (only 88 yards on 26 carries, with a TD).

I fully expected – with all the stars they lost to graduation and the NFL last year – that the Utes would be pushovers. But, that’s a solid program, and they are VERY physical along both their offensive and defensive lines. If there was ever a blueprint on how to beat the Huskies, the Utes unlocked it: run the ball physically on offense and stack the box against us and force our inexperienced quarterback to try and beat you with his arm.

What I never would’ve expected – in just his third college start – was Morris doing just that. While the interceptions were unfortunate (and hopefully an anomaly), he did finish 23/38 for 272 yards and 2 TDs. Tight end Cade Otton was the best player on either offense, catching 8 balls for 108 yards and both of the airborne touchdowns (including the game winner with 36 seconds remaining). Puka Nacua also had some big catches in this one to keep drives alive (finishing with 6 for 67).

I’m sure Jake Browning had a few come-from-behind victories in his 4-year career as a Husky, but he’s certainly not known as someone who regularly pulled our asses out of the fire. Indeed, I would argue we haven’t had a quarterback like that since Marques Tuiasosopo. I’m not saying Morris is the second coming in that regard, but it’s a good sign that this early on in his college career, the moment wasn’t too big for him.

For as bad as the first half was, the second half was a trip! The Huskies got the ball and drove right down the field to cut the lead to two scores. Then, Elijah Molden picked off Jake Bentley, which led to the Huskies getting a short field. Unfortunately, we couldn’t convert – having to settle for a field goal – but by then you could sort of feel something special starting to build. The Utes were stuffed on fourth down on the Husky-side of midfield, and three plays later it was 21-17 (and we were still in the third quarter at that point!).

Things got straight up weird after that. The Utes finally figured out how to move the ball, driving it deep into Husky territory. Then, Kyler Gordon forced a fumble that was recovered by Zion Tupuola-Fetui, and we all thought this was it! Not only would the Huskies complete the comeback, but perhaps the rout would be on from here!

Not so fast, though. The teams traded punts, then what appeared to be a back-breaking third interception by Morris gave the ball to the Utes at the 50 with just under 7 minutes remaining. This could’ve ended things, but the defense stepped up once again to force a 3 & Out and a punt down to the Washington 12 yard line. With four and a half minutes to go, that’s when Morris stepped up for the biggest drive of his life. 88 yards on 12 plays, with a couple of huge third down conversions (including a 3rd & 10 play that went for 14 yards to Nacua), methodically marching down the field, culminating in a 16-yard TD to Otton. Three plays later, Trent McDuffie picked off Bentley for a second time to end it.

What else can you say about ZTF, by the way? He had all three Husky sacks in this one, to win his THIRD consecutive Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week Award (yes, that’s 3 for 3 on the season). He just looks like a total fucking beast along the defensive line; absolutely unstoppable! Also, that Death Row secondary held the Utes to 144 yards passing (not that they needed to do a whole lot, with the way they were able to run the ball, but still); you could tell that as soon as they NEEDED to throw the ball, they wouldn’t be able to.

That’s going to be the key going forward: keeping opposing running games in check to the point where they have to throw, and then absolutely crushing their spirits.

At 3-0, the Huskies are FINALLY ranked, hitting 22 in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Ducks lost to the Beavers, which has them 23rd now (*giggle*), but we’re somehow behind USC, who is holding steady at 20. I still contend the Huskies are the most complete – and therefore BEST – team in the Pac-12. What this game showed me is that the Utes are a lot better than I originally thought. Clearly, the Huskies have the conference’s best defense, and we might’ve just finished playing the second-best unit.

This Saturday, we’re set to host Stanford at 1pm (our fourth consecutive home game). The Cardinal apparently give up the most rushing yards in the world, so I would expect it’ll be easier to get our running backs going in this one. They sit 1-2 on the year (after having their game against WSU canceled), having just barely beaten Cal (in what will probably be the final college football game in the Bay Area in 2020 thanks to their new insane COVID restrictions). Stanford lost to Oregon and Colorado, who are two of the better-looking teams in the Pac-12, so they’ve really gotten the unlucky end of the scheduling stick this season. We’ll see if they’re really as bad as the numbers indicate, or if it’s a matter of playing really tough teams.

Either way, I expect the Huskies to win, and in much easier fashion than against Utah. Maybe that was a wake-up call. We weren’t able to do what we wanted to do, and really took a shot to the face in the first half. But, we rallied and showed what we’re made of, and I think that speaks well to the character of our players and the preparedness of our coaching staff.

Now, if we can just NOT ice our own kicker and take a horrific Delay of Game penalty before he pushes a 40-yard kick wide right, maybe we won’t have to lose our fucking minds!

The Huskies Dismantled The Wildcats & The Cougs Coug’d The Apple Cup

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The Huskies won 44-27 on Saturday evening, but don’t let the score fool you. It was 37-0 after three quarters, climbing to 44-6 before a TON of Garbage Time points (against the Huskies’ backup defense) made the game look a lot closer than it was.

You really can’t say enough about, well, the starting defense at least. We had five sacks and seven tackles for loss. Zion Tupuola-Fetui had two more sacks to lead the way, Ryan Bowman had a sack, Edefuan Ulofoshio had a sack and five tackles from the linebacker spot. Elijah Molden had another strong game in coverage. Indeed, the defensive backs across the board had a fantastic night; they were as sticky as ever! The Arizona quarterback, Grant Gunnell, had – by the second half – the most despondent look I’ve ever seen on an opposing quarterback. He was getting beaten up in the pocket, he couldn’t find anyone even remotely open, and it looked like he wanted to give up and hide under a rock until the game ended. It’s to his credit that he was able to hang in there and rack up some cheap stats at the end; he finished with 259 yards passing on 27/39 with 3 touchdowns.

However, I went through and did the math: from the point where Arizona got the ball with less than a minute left in the third quarter, through the end of the game, when they scored all of their points, Gunnell was 17/23 for 219 yards. Meaning, when the game mattered most (for almost three entire quarters), he was 10/16 for 40 yards. At that point, you can kind of understand why this defense might have an opposing quarterback whimpering like a child whose sandcastle was just kicked over by a local bully.

Offensively, the Huskies absolutely steamrolled over Arizona’s defense. Dylan Morris came out firing early in the first half, ultimately throwing for 230 yards on 15/25 passing, with 2 TD’s. With such a huge lead to play with, once again Morris wasn’t asked to do a whole lot. But, I thought he looked a lot more comfortable back there. His accuracy in the short-to-intermediate range is tremendous! He’s making lots of smart decisions on when to run and when to hang in there and take a hit as he’s throwing the ball. If anything, his long-ball accuracy leaves a little to be desired (he was long on most of them, then seemed to try to over-correct and came up short, allowing those passes to be knocked away), but this is a minor quibble. I’m liking most of what I’m seeing from Morris; he’s certainly exceeded my expectations through two games.

Of course, the run game was just as elite as it was last week. As a team, the Huskies ended up running it 45 times for 233 yards and 4 touchdowns. For those keeping track, that’s a two-game total of exactly 500 yards on 96 carries (5.21 yards per carry average) with 7 touchdowns; that’s pretty insane! Richard Newton led the way with 81 yards on 8 carries (bolstered by a late 54-yard TD), but it was a team effort, with a committee of four backs sharing the ball pretty evenly. This is a DOMINANT running team, and a force to be reckoned with the rest of the way.

Before moving on, I would be remiss if I didn’t shout out some receivers. Tight end Cade Otton led the way with 7 catches for 100 yards and a TD. Puka Nacua had only 1 catch, but it went for 65 yards and a TD (the breakaway speed on that kid is top notch; I’d love to see him get the ball in space more often and see what he can do with yards after catch). Ty Jones had 2 catches for 33 yards and Terrell Bynum had 1 for 20 and another rush for 13 more yards. There were a few more drops though, that would have me pulling my hair out if I had any on my head. That needs to stop, posthaste!

There’s some bad news for all of you post-Thanksgiving Apple Cup fans: the Cougs apparently have too many COVID cases and thus not only had their game this past weekend canceled, but are also on the shelf for this Friday night’s would-be Apple Cup. That doesn’t mean there definitely won’t be an Apple Cup this season (the last year we didn’t have one was 1944); if things shake out as expected (i.e. more games get canceled due to COVID), the conference will be all too happy to reschedule it later this season. Indeed, it’s been bandied about that should the Huskies not be playing for the conference title in mid-December, the game could be shifted to that weekend, as opposed to playing whatever Pac-12 South team we would’ve played.

That leads to what will happen for the Huskies THIS weekend. There was chatter yesterday that we might get to play undefeated BYU (so, you know, it wouldn’t be the Apple Cup, but we’d still get to play the Cougars). I find this SO entertaining; there are rumors all over the map. Some outlets are saying that BYU is afraid to play a team as good as UW because they’re 9-0 and therefore in the hunt for a playoff spot. This is the first week where the College Football Playoff rankings come out, and some are saying BYU wanted to see where they stood first before agreeing to play the Huskies. Obviously, if they’re not in (or near) the top four when those rankings are released, they’ll absolutely want to play the Huskies to bolster their resume! But, if things are looking good for them, why would you risk a defeat and blow your chances?

Of course, on the BYU side, they’re officially saying all the right things. They apparently want this game against UW locked down sooner rather than later, but the Pac-12 has a rule saying we have to wait until Thursday, just in case any other Pac-12 teams have their games canceled because of an opposing COVID outbreak. Which, unfortunately, seems like it’s going to be the case.

I read, as of last night, that the Huskies are preparing to play Utah this week. The Utes are 0-1 so far, with two canceled games (they lost at home to USC this past weekend, and didn’t look particularly good doing it). Utah is scheduled to play Arizona State this weekend, but it sounds like the Sun Devils – whose last two games have been canceled – are not out of the woods of their own outbreak. Beggars can’t be choosers and all of that, but if I had my druthers I’d rather play BYU.

The Huskies didn’t quite get into the Top 25 this week, but from the “Others Receiving Votes” category, we received the most (meaning we’re effectively 26th in the AP rankings, and 29th in the Coaches Poll). So, a BYU game (8th in both polls) would’ve been HUGE from a national perspective. At this point, only Oregon (9th in the AP, 11th in Coaches) and USC (19th in the AP, 18th in Coaches) are ranked from the Pac-12. No one else is really even on the radar (though Colorado, like Washington, is 2-0). From what I’ve seen, the Pac-12 just doesn’t look great. USC is LUCKY to be 3-0 at this point, and only looked good this past weekend against Utah. Oregon struggled at home against UCLA. Cal has looked atrocious (even losing to the Beavs this past weekend). Stanford has yet to win a game. And ASU is about to have their third game taken away because of the pandemic.

Honestly, it feels like the top two teams in the conference are Oregon and Washington, which is a blessing and a curse. The Ducks should have no trouble going undefeated heading into our showdown on December 12th, and the more I’m seeing from the Huskies, the more I’m expecting us to do the same. The shame of it all is we’re still unranked; I was REALLY hoping we’d be in the Top 25 after killing the Wildcats (maybe a byproduct of how close the score ended up looking; if we’d beaten them 51-0, we might be in there right now). I know for a fact if we went on the road and escaped BYU with a victory, we’d jump right in there (and probably leapfrog USC in the process). At that point, going undefeated and winning in Oregon still might not make a difference, but it would be cool to whiff the Top 10, even in a wacky season like this one.

Regardless of who the Huskies play this weekend, there’s no doubt in my mind this is a great football team. It makes me long for what we could’ve done in a COVID-free universe, where we got to play our original schedule. Leading off with a win over the hapless Michigan Wolverines would’ve been VERY sweet, I can tell you that much.

Is It A Bad Sign That The Husky Football Team Hasn’t Named A Starting Quarterback?

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We got our first depth chart of the season yesterday. There are a number of familiar names at the skill positions – Kamari Pleasant the surprise starter at running back, though he’ll surely be part of a committee with Sean McGrew and Richard Newton; Puka Nacua, Terrell Bynum, Ty Jones lead the way at receiver; with Cade Otton at tight end – but for the most part what’s on everyone’s mind is the 4-way logjam at quarterback:

  • Ethan Garbers (true Freshman)
  • Dylan Morris (redshirt Freshman)
  • Jacob Sirmon (Sophomore)
  • Kevin Thomson (Senior)

They all seem to be worthy in one way or another of becoming the starting quarterback for the University of Washington, but for whatever reason it seems no one has asserted himself as the Top Dawg, so to speak. Obviously, there’s some mindgames at play here, as this forces Cal to have to try to prepare for multiple different players (with multiple different styles). Coach Lake has even gone so far as to announce that more than one could see playing time in this game, which again could simply be posturing to force Cal into doing more work than they need to. In that sense, sure, I get it; why make it easy on them?

I guess my question stems from the notion that Coach Lake is being honest. That there really is no one guy who has far-and-away dominated over everyone else. I can see why that would be concerning for Husky fans! Kevin Thomson – the graduate transfer – obviously has the most college playing experience of anyone on the roster, and it sounds like he’s also the most mobile (which could be a big help with a lot of new pieces across the offensive line, as well as breaking in a new offensive coordinator and scheme); if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t bet the entirety of the Taylor Family Farm on Thomson getting the first reps (and the most reps), but, you know, I’d probably be willing to bet a goat or two on it (yes, we have many goats on the Taylor Family Farm, sorry to brag so much). Logically, he makes the most sense, but if we take Coach Lake at his word, then that means Thomson … isn’t very good? Can’t beat out three guys who – combined – have only played a handful of snaps at the college level?

Now, the flipside of that is: one or more of those other guys have surpassed expectations and it’s an embarrassment of riches! But, come on, when is that EVER the case? Don’t shit a shitter, you guys; you know as well as I do that what he’s suggesting is Coachspeak for, “Ehh, you know, I like our guys I guess, but I just don’t trust ’em as far as I can throw ’em.”

I’ll be honest here, I can’t think of a single instance where I’ve enjoyed watching a team try to straddle two different (and healthy) quarterbacks. I mean, maybe Joe Montana and Steve Young in their primes, but what are the odds we have two surefire Hall of Famers in this group? Plus, even then, I’m sure it was annoying. I barely like shuffling running backs in and out of a game for the same reason: you need time to get settled in! At least at the college level, most of the running backs are really talented, so it’s more about offensive line play than anything. But, what’s worse than going back and forth between two ice-cold quarterbacks? Probably going back and forth between three or four ice-cold quarterbacks, but that’s neither here nor there.

I don’t have a lot of super-high hopes for this season for any number of reasons. New head coach and new offensive coordinator being at the top of my list. You need time to grow and work out the kinks; I wouldn’t think it’s likely we would contend for a conference championship even if we had a returning 3-year starter at quarterback! The only moderate reason why I MIGHT have hope is because this is such a flukey circumstance – 7-game schedule, COVID protocols and the like – and because we have a lot of returning stars on defense and at the skill positions to hopefully paper over some of the growing pains, that I believe it’s 2020 and literally anything can happen (plus, if we grow and improve over the first five games, we JUST might be ready to compete with a team like Oregon in the regular season finale).

In reality, though, assuming we lose a game or two early, I’d love to see one of our younger quarterbacks get a good run in and build some confidence heading into 2021. So, if Thomson isn’t the ace we thought he could be, he should have an EXTREMELY short leash. I don’t see any point in wasting a year of everyone’s eligibility on a guy who won’t be around after this season.

So yeah, I think it’s a bad sign we don’t officially know who the starter will be. They’re most likely ALL mediocre! Of course, if we’re all being hornswoggled, then I might be singing a different tune next week.